CHAPTER XXXII
THE END OF ALL THE LAW
121. All the divine precepts are, therefore, referred back to love, of
which the apostle says, "Now the end of the commandment is love, out
of a pure heart, and a good conscience and a faith unfeigned."258
Thus every commandment harks back to love. For whatever one does
either in fear of punishment or from some carnal impulse, so that it
does not measure up to the standard of love which the Holy Spirit
sheds abroad in our hearts--whatever it is, it is not yet done as it
should be, although it may seem to be. Love, in this context, of
course includes both the love of God and the love of our neighbor and,
indeed, "on these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets"259 --and, we may add, the gospel and the apostles, for from
nowhere else comes the voice, "The end of the commandment is
love,"260 and, "God is love."261
Therefore, whatsoever things God commands (and one of these is, "Thou
shalt not commit adultery"262 ) and whatsoever things are not
positively ordered but are strongly advised as good spiritual counsel
(and one of these is, "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a
woman"263 )--all of these imperatives are rightly obeyed only when
they are measured by the standard of our love of God and our love of
our neighbor in God [propter Deum]. This applies both in the present
age and in the world to come. Now we love God in faith; then, at
sight. For, though mortal men ourselves, we do not know the hearts of
mortal men. But then "the Lord will illuminate the hidden things in
the darkness and will make manifest the cogitations of the heart; and
then shall each one have his praise from God"264 --for what will be
praised and loved in a neighbor by his neighbor is just that which,
lest it remain hidden, God himself will bring to light. Moreover,
passion decreases as love increases265 until love comes at last to
that fullness which cannot be surpassed, "for greater love than this
no one has, that a man lay down his life for his friends."266 Who,
then, can explain how great the power of love will be, when there will
be no passion [cupiditas] for it to restrain or overcome? For, then,
the supreme state of true health [summa sanitas] will have been
reached, when the struggle with death shall be no more.
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258 ITim. 1:5.
259 Matt. 22:40.
260 1Tim. 1:5.
261 I John 4:16.
262 Ex. 20:14; Matt. 5:27; etc.
263 I Cor. 7:1.
264 I Cor. 4:5.
265 Minuitur autem cupiditas caritate crescente.
266 John 15:23.